According to a new bombshell report from media journalist Taylor Lorenz, Instagram made it harder for teens to find queer-friendly content on the platform via search in the past few months, seemingly in keeping with the political wave of anti-LGBTQ visibility measures.
Posts with LGBTQ+ hashtags including #lesbian, #bisexual, #gay, #trans, #queer, #nonbinary, #pansexial, #transwomen, #Tgirl, #Tboy, #Tgirlsarebeautiful, #bisexualpride, #lesbianpride, and dozens of others were hidden for any users who had their sensitive content filter turned on,” Lorenz reported in her Substack User Mag. “Teenagers have the sensitive content filter turned on by default.”
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This was…an extremely poor decision
After Lorenz reached out, Meta representatives claimed that the sensitive content filter had been turned on by mistake. Pointing to a statement from the company last year, however, Lorenz explains that the company may have been responding to pressure from anti-LGBTQ+ legislators and parents who feel the need to “protect” their children from queerness. That many of the filtered hashtags relate to transgender identity is in keeping with the harmful right-wing conception for transness as a modern contagion from which presumed-cis children must be kept safe. Instagram teen accounts are mandatory for users under the age of 18. Currently, Instagram teen accounts restrict what users can see, and the setting can only be reversed by a parent or guardian.
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What have sex workers and free speech advocates been saying about age check laws and policies re: adult material and how they will lead to anti-queer discrimination? 🤔 open.substack.com/pub/taylorlo…
— Chris Richards (@eclecticradical.bsky.social) January 6, 2025 at 8:23 AM
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When teen users attempted to search LGBTQ terms they were shown a blank page. Posts with LGBTQ+ hashtags including #lesbian, #bisexual, #gay, #trans, #queer, #nonbinary, #pansexial, #transwomen, #Tgirlsarebeautiful, #bisexualpride, #lesbianpride, and dozens of others were blocked.
— Taylor Lorenz (@taylorlorenz.bsky.social) January 6, 2025 at 6:50 AM
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Lorenz further reports that several queer teens she spoke with weren’t even aware of the shadow ban, but said that they “struggled to find other LGBTQ young people to connect with through Instagram” in recent months.
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